Chapter 54 Summary

At last the Rudds' new cow is almost dead, and Herriot decides to try a risky surgery. He pops the abscess with a knife, but it appears to be too late. Herriot is convinced that she will be dead the next day. The once fine cow is now a skeleton, and all of Rudd's dreams are going down with her. The cow miraculously survives, however, and the Rudds couldn't be happier.

Chapter 54 Analysis

Many of these cases feature Herriot looking back and wishing that he could have employed current veterinary techniques back then. Now, there is a much easier surgery to treat abscesses, but he did not know how to perform the procedure. Herriot cares deeply not only for his patients but also their owners, and he wishes that he could have done more to help them.